What's it all about?

40 nights for the orphans of India. My 'Lent in a Tent' is about raising hugely needed funds for 'Shining Faces in India' orphanage in Salem, Tamil Nadhu, by sleeping ouside the Chaplaincy at King's Bruton for 40 nights. My target is at least £10,000 - which amazingly is only enough to feed the hundreds of children there for about two months.I hope that many might be inspired to trade 40 pounds for my 40 nights. Actually, in the back of my mind I'm convinced that we could smash through the target and go much much further ... I wonder.

Tuesday, 12 February 2013

Nets and all that ... evening 7/40

I mentioned in my last post about my son, Sam, and his one-armed 60 bites he's trying not to scratch as I type! As the 7th night outside approaches I thought I'd stay on the theme.

I couldn't help noticing last night how much the inner mesh of my tent looks just like my trusty mosquito net I always have with me in India. Here he is ...

I can't tell you just what a right hand man this little net is - almost like my bodyguard! Others on the teams are far more hardy than the old Rev, I have to say, and go it alone into each night. Not me! Without it I feel like fresh meat in a room full of wolves. But with it? Suddenly I grow in confidence and march headlong, metaphorically speaking, into the darkness.

On a far more serious note, though, I'm always conscious that a net is a luxury, although it shouldn't be. At the moment the area in Tamil Nadhu where the orphanage is situated isn't a serious malarial zone. It has been before and might be again as the habitat of malaria-bearing mosquitoes changes. But where malaria is rampant these nets are a lifesaver, literally. The problem is, many who need them don't have them. Organisations like 'Nothing but Nets' are working hard to get more coverage, quite literally, by sending nets to affected areas.

There's a long way to go in the fight against this world number 4 cause of child deaths - 800,000 under 5s every year (World Vision stats). For now I'm just so grateful that this is one danger the precious children at our link orphanage don't have to deal with.

But it's not as though there aren't others. Can I go on urging donations as we approach and pass the first £1000 ...

Oh, and I ought to just thank those of you who have given such helpful 'how to keep warm in a tent' advice. I'll be heeding it tonight ... just popped out and frankly it's absolutely freezing!